Tuesday's Vote

November 3, 1984

MARYLAND VOTERS will find one proposal on the ballot to amend the state constitution and, depending on their home county, various ballot questions and contests for school board seats. The amendment proposal deserves approval. It would prevent people who are unable to register to vote -- such as former state senator Tommie Broadwater, who is on probation after serving four months on a food-stamp fraud conviction -- from filing to run for public office.

In Montgomery County, we already have recommended a vote for Question D and against Question E as the way to restructure the county council. Questions A, B and C are charter revisions that enjoy widespread support and should be approved. Questions G, H and I are proposals to allow sales of liquor in three now-dry areas of the county -- Clarksburg, Darnestown and Damascus -- and these are questions best decided by those most affected one way or another.

In Prince George's County, the most important proposal is Question A, a moderate but critically important proposal to make TRIM more flexible. Whatever else voters in the county choose to do for themselves in the coming years, good government depends on approval of this measure. The other proposals -- one allowing the county council chairman to become county executive if the executive's seat were to become vacant and various bond issues -- are sound and deserve support as well.

It is a sign of progress, perhaps, that there are no burning issues or striking contrasts in the campaigns for school boards in Prince George's and Montgomery counties this year. In general, the caliber of candidates is high, and the chances of either board going astray as a result of the election appear minimal.